April 15, 2012 -- Steve Torrence was the first driver off the starting line and the first to the finish line Sunday in his opening round of the once-a-year 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

That win sent him into the semifinals of this event that has only three rounds instead of four.

Torrence hit the throttle with a .050-second reaction time and the Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel dragster pulled away in 3.797 seconds at 322.50 mph. He was followed by Bob Vandergriff (3.795) and Clay Millican (3.907). Pat Dakin broke at the line.

Matched against Tony Schumacher, Vandergriff and Doug Kalitta in the semis, Torrence once again got the edge on his rivals at the green light with a .045-second reaction, but it didn’t last long. The tires started spinning and smoking, forcing Torrence to shut off the engine and coast to the line with a time of 9.689 seconds at 76.59 mph.

“We had a good weekend overall,” said Torrence. “Qualifying first made it the best weekend. I think we are continuing to show our potential. This was just our eighth race as a team.

“We don’t know what happened on the last run. Something mechanical bit us because the tires started smoking right away. I know we had a conservative tune-up because the temperatures were about 20 degrees warmer than they were on our first run.

“The guys will figure it out when they get to our shop (in Brownsburg, Ind.).”

Next up is a trip to Royal Purple Raceway in Houston, April 27-29, one of two hometown races for the Kilgore, Texas resident.